by The Editor

Water recycling – the need of the hour

Contract Farming – to make farm sector profitable

And so the long-anticipated water crisis has come. The

Chennai Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is still sending the precious liquid via pipes but this may not be for long. Water tankers have reappeared, as have long queues of people waiting with plastic pots for their quota from these vehicles. With most of the city reservoirs touching rock bottom, the off take is now from abandoned quarries that have collected water.

The CMWSSB claims to be supplying 550 million litres every alternate day to the city, the actual demand being 850 million litres per day. Keeping up even with this level of supply may not be possible for long. Cynics have it that it will cease as soon as Chennai votes – on April 18th. The areas outside the purview of the CMWSSB’s piped water, and these include the entire IT corridor, are not much better off. They have relied on tankers supplying wa-ter extracted from the mofussil and with resources depleting there as well, the crisis can only deepen. Meteorological statistics have it that Chennai and its surroundings received 54 per cent less rain last year and we are now facing the con-sequences.

We earlier tackled such cri-ses by the Telugu Ganga proj-ect, the Veeranam scheme, installing desalination plants (a high energy and therefore expensive solution) and rainwa-ter harvesting. The last named was perhaps the first instance of Chennai showing some

responsibility when it came to conserving water. Here again, reliable sources have it that the first wave of the scheme, initi-ated in 2001 by the then Chief Minister, was the only effective one and all measures adopted

by buildings subsequently have been mere shams. Whatever be the truth in that, it cannot be denied that Chennai did make a success of conserving rainwater. But happens when it does not rain at all?

That is when we need to get going with the next step – recy-cling water, reducing its usage

and more importantly, making sure wastage is brought down. Anyone would think that the CMWSSB would have by now come out with a notification on what can be done by private res-idents, hotels, hospitals and in-

dustrial establishments. There has been nothing so far. Huge imbalances in supply and con-sumption are the consequences. The economically deprived

The passing of the Bill by the Tamil Nadu Government

to promote contract farming is welcome news. Although the concept is not new there has not been enough serious effort to promote it especially for horticulture and cash crops that languish under conditions of price volatility and market uncertainty. The government web-site cites just eight proj-ects under contract farming, indicative of the unexplored potential.

Predominance of small hold-ings, susceptibility to climatic vagaries, tendency of produce prices to collapse in the wake of harvest, high price sensitivity to bumper yields, in effect pun-ishing productivity, and absence of effort at value addition are characteristics of the farming sector. Contract farming system has the potential to address some of these problems and in-tegrate the farm with domestic and world markets.

Nutrition for the population

based on 370 g/day of rice and 70 g/day of pulses shows that 93 lakh tonnes of rice and 10.01 lakh tonnes of pulses are needed for the State’s popu-lation against production of 57 lakh tonnes and 3.2 lakh tonnes respectively, as of 2013-14, according to data from the

trials compared to actual yield of about 4,000 kg/ha.

As much as sixty per cent of the 50 lakh ha under cultiva-tion is under irrigation indic-ative of high dependance on water availability compared to rainfed conditions. Tamil Nadu has about 8.5 lakh ha under

scope to increase productivity moving up the value ladder, contract farming has a well cut out role to play. It should be giv-en a fair opportunity to succeed.

Agricultural produce market in the State and elsewhere is dominated by private whole-salers and commission agents. They buy from the farms and sell to other wholesalers or processors. There is no pri-or binding contract nor the assurance of off-take or idea of price before planting. Storage and preservation facilities are inadequate resulting in sizeable losses with barely 60 per cent of the produced quantity reaching the consumer. Agricultural pro-duce marketing centres under local bodies are functional but have not been able to curb the predatory practices of pri-vate intermediaries. Private operators provide service at the farmer’s door and pay promptly, which farmers find meet their

Department of Economics and Statistics. It underlines the importance of nutrition security as distinct from food securi-ty and of closer proximity to self-sufficiency through higher realisation of yield potential.

There is scope to raise productivity as the yield gap between actual yield and potential yield is as large as 30-40 per cent for many crops; an example is rice with a potential of 6,000 kg/ha based on on-farm

fruits, vegetables, spices and aromatics, total production increasing by about 30 per cent between 2011-12 and 2013-14. Integrating the farm with the market is the role of, what is loosely referred to as contract farming. Farmers undertake to produce and deliver the crop to a contracting organisation and the latter underwrites the production at a price, agreed mutually prior to planting. As there is both the need and the

Water tankers – a familiar sight in the City. (Photo: S. Raja Pandiyan.)

Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/18-20Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/18-20 Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-)Publication: 1st & 16th of every month

C M Y K

Vol. XXIX No. 1 April 16-30 2019

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy Madras man in Antarctica X-ray man at Madras Chennai’s Ist Trade Centre Rail murder

(Continued on page 2)

(Continued on page 3)

by A Special Correspondent

2 MADRAS MUSINGS April 16-30, 2019

pressures. Traders can exploit farmers’ desperation for cash and are able to force them to sell – at times, even before har-vest, based on an estimated out-put – at low prices. Weighment irregularities, over-provision for moisture and similar factors affect the net price the farmer realises. All these combine to explain the anomaly of low farm gate prices and high consumer prices – a spread, larger than what is reasonable. As a sizeable segment of the farming sector is made of small holders of less than 2 ha – 74 lakh out of 81 lakh holdings – their bargaining power is too weak to be able to deal with an oligarchic whole-sale structure.

Cont rac t f a rming can address these weaknesses in the supply chain and enable the farmer to get a larger slice of the cake. Without being known by that name, this sys-tem has been successfully in practice in the sugar industry for several decades. Fertilisers, pesticides and material for bi-ological control of pests are supplied as also are treated dis-ease-free cane “setts” for plant-ing of high sucrose-yielding varieties. Technical support is extended at every stage of crop life till harvest. The company collaborates with a bank that extends loans to growers to meet their production and cap-ital improvement costs. The loans are serviced out of sums withheld from caneproceeds and paid directly to the bank. This model has been replicated, with adaptations, in several other agro-processing private sector-farmer joint ventures.

There are examples of successful ventures based on contract farming for other crops. The ginning and trading opera-tion in Pollachi formed linkages between the cotton grower

and the user textile units. This example is unique also for an-other reason. Its constituents are not individual growers but grower self-help groups. Gher-kin export is another case of a mutually beneficial, lasting contract with growers.The milk projects in several states in-cluding Tamil Nadu, following the famous Amul, are contract farming models. In all these cases, relationship is based on features that address the needs and interests of all the parties.

The contract system is flex-ible to accommodate different needs. In some cases, the farmer is given inputs and technical guidance and the output is bought out at a price agreed before planting. In other cases, the farmer is absolved of varia-tions in output and of varying produce prices, by the promoter taking the land on lease; in addition to lease the farmer gets production costs and sometimes a share of the additional profit arising out of higher quality and yields. In this range there are several variants.

Absorbing the risk of a sub-optimal yield due to ex-ternal factors and assurance of purchase price made known before planting are the biggest take-aways for farmers from a contract system. The promoter is, in turn, able to hedge against these risks by provisions in his cost structure and through crop insurance cover.

For long term durability and sustainability of the contract venture, the end-product pro-cessed from the crop should have a stable domestic market base that does not fluctuate unduly over time and wherever feasible, there should be more than one end-product address-ing different market segments so as to cope with demand uncertainties.

(To be concluded next fortnight)

CONTRACT FARMING

It is getting to be hotter than the hinges of Hades already but nothing deters

the band of volunteers. The Man from Madras Musings alludes to the campaigners of the various parties as they go around the different areas of our city, palms pressed to-gether in greeting, the face permanently split into a wide smile and the back bent in a posture of supplication. Long after they are gone, their smile remains. How they keep up this yogic posture and attitude for entire days and weeks may be a mystery to many. Not so to MMM, who has an expla-nation – all the torturing of the body is offset by the five years of rest that the elected representatives get. For that matter some of the defeated ones relax too – some of these people manifest themselves only during election time.

As in every election, MMM notices that there are the quix-otic candidates, the ones who come from professional back-grounds and take to politics with the hope that they can make a difference – all in one election of course. These are easily identified from their entourage, which is a handful

with the ones that stay on. These are the kinds that nur-ture constituencies, irrespec-tive of victory or defeat. Do your duty and bother not about the fruits of your actions said the voice of God and these peo-ple are true followers of that dictum. They stick around. They organise rallies and po-litical meetings. They dig the local platforms to erect party banners and block streets to put up stages for their lead-er’s speech. On leaders’ birth-day and (as it happened in the recent past) day of death, they are around, organising poor feeding on a big scale with some liquid refreshments thrown in. If the water supply fails they organise protests.

They are around when there are floods, riots, fire or famine. Once in a while they encroach public space to conduct a celebration or two, or put up a water-dispensing kiosk. They are dab hands at funerals knowing everything from flower arrangements, to drum beaters to dancers to the supply of the stuff that cheers.

Whom would you vote for? MMM would any day select this latter variety as compared to these airy-fairies who sud-

Canvassing like Cheshire Catsrest are all securely trussed up. MMM for one cannot see the logic behind this but he understands from higher ups that many statues are of lead-ers who are associated with one party or the other and so they may unduly influence the voters. The point however is that these statues have been around for decades and even if they are covered people will know who they are given that our leaders are portrayed in standard postures only. Thus the Law Giver is shown clutching a book, always in a blue suit and with one arm raised. The Older Brother when standing flashes a V and when seated reads a book. The Elder when seated is reading and when standing is leaning on a stick and making a point. Revolutionary Leader flashes the V like his Elder Brother and as for Mother, she too flashes the V. Old Uncle, now much vilified, is seen freeing a dove. These are so ingrained in our minds that shroud or not, we can recognise who they are. And so what has the EC achieved by getting them all up to look like some horror play involving Roman Senators?

And continuing on the

denly appear promising clean Government.

Election eccentricitiesThese elections have, like

the previous ones, seen the Election Commission going on overdrive. The first indication of this is of course the police stopping you at various places in the city, to check if you are carrying cash. The Man from Madras Musings was checked a record four times and disap-pointed the law. MMM’s car, was like his bank account – it did not have any cash. But the modus operandi of the checks had MMM mighty amused.

Firstly, the police force lurks under trees and mind you, MMM is not blaming them, such being the heat. They jump out at you and one of them imperiously waves you to a stop. Another records the entire proceeding on video. Officers 3 and 4 check the boot, look under seats, pat the roof of your car and ask you to open any bags that may be there. Throughout the search one man is employed only to keep apologising to you.

All this is of course nothing when compared to the Election Commission’s statute on stat-ues. All those of a political hue have been covered in plastic winding sheets. This of course does not include the Father of the Nation (MMM wonders if he is that unwanted) but the

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

of people. They go from door to door, introducing them-selves to the voters. The latter are polite, and smile back. They know that this is the least they can do for someone who is bound to lose his/her deposit. These independent hopefuls receive an inordinate amount of media coverage, in the space that is usually reserved for people who cycle across the land or walk from continent to continent. MMM can still remember the paper coverage given to a group of NRIs, who gave up their cushy jobs, came to Chennai a few decades back, formed a party and stood for elections. Not one made it to Parliament and they have not been heard of since. Perhaps they are back to their cushy NRI jobs. As for their promises to stay on and improve society, well well…

A couple of elections ago, an actress known for her sterling portrayals on screen contested a seat on the same clean image platform. She came a cropper and as far as MMM can see, she is back to acting, lending her voice, playing some roles in cinema and being the central char-acter in a dreadful TV serial. The problem is, not one of these people have opted to stick on in politics. They just hoped to make it big within a few weeks. When that did not happen, they moved on.

You need to compare this

same note, is it not then nec-essary for all streets bearing the names of Older Brother, Artist, Elder, Law Giver, Mat-inee Idol, Mother, etc to also have their signboards covered up? Or is that asking for too much? After all bus stations that carry the name of the MP whose funds enabled their construction have had all signage crossed out with pink paint. And so have walls with election graffiti. And how then did old Central Station sud-denly in the midst of all this righteousness have its name changed to Revolutionary Leader Central Station? And during the next elections will it be referred to as Ahem Ahem Central Station? Just Asking.

TailpieceOn renaming Central ,

The Man from Madras Musings feels the Govern-ment has done Revolutionary Leader’s memory a disservice. The correct name ought to have been Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Thilakam Ponmana Chemmal Engal Thangam Vadyar Meenava Nanban Maduraiyai Meeta Sund-arapandiyan Bharat Ratna Manbumigu Dr MG Ram-achandran Central Station. Oh wait, Chennai is missing. We can add it somewhere or it may not be necessary.

–MMM

– The Editor

Thank you, Donors

We today, publish donations received with thanks for the period upto March end.

Rs. 100: G. Muthu Damodaran, T.K. Ganapathy, M.S. Venkataraman, Srinivasan Chari, K. Vignesh

Rs. 150: P.S. Thiagharajan

Rs. 200: Sundareshwara P, G. Srinivasan

Rs. 300: Soora Chandramouleeswaran

Rs. 400: Dr. Mrs. Jean Menezes, Venkatarangan, K. Yatheendra Prabu, R. Vivek

Rs. 900: A. Govindarajan, N.V. Pundarikanthan, M.K. Mani

Rs. 1000: C.R. Rajendran

Rs. 1750: N.S. Parthasarathy

Rs. 1900: George K. John

(Continued from page 1)

April 16-30, 2019 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

sections of the city are denied water. Supply is kept up to more affluent colonies. Those who can afford it resort to private purchase. There is no control over how this latter category spends the water it receives. Even though they are free to spend it the way they want to, they ought to know that they are depleting a precious resource and need to therefore restrict their consumption.

A couple of years ago it was announced by the CMWSSB that all new multi-storeyed and ‘special’ (whatever that means) buildings would need to recycle water. It is not clear if anyone is monitoring the implementation of this order or whether it has remained one of those diktats that just look good on paper.

Chennai generates 500 million litres of sewage in a day (a fig-ure not very different from the supply of water statistic quoted above). These are collected, treated, let out into waterways and eventually drain to the sea. Can it not be made mandatory for every building, even the older ones, to install facilities to recycle grey water? There are plenty of commercial solutions available and people need to be-gin considering them. Recycling of water also reduces wastage and more importantly, burdens the drainage system a lot less.

Will the present Govern-ment have the political will that it displayed in 2001 when it made rainwater harvesting compulsory and insist on recy-cling facilities being implement-ed within a timeframe?

Water recycling – the need of the hour

(Continued from page 1)

The Firangipani tree, (paneer pushpam in Tamil) stands majestically tall, enveloping

all its sinewy arms with its white and pink hued flowers, within the compound of the house op-posite mine. One day, on an impulse, I picked the fallen flowers to adorn my earthen bowl and lengthen their lives for perhaps one more day.The next day, as I went to collect the milk packets, a bag containing the elegant flowers was hung on the gate. I again arranged them. The appearance of the flowers became a regular feature. I enquired around and came to know that the watchman of the opposite house would collect the flowers and share their unselfish lives with anyone who showed an interest in them. I did not confront him, though I would fret when I didn’t have the time to arrange them. I did notice however that he would draw the kolam on his quadrangular front with a chalk piece and adorn them with the fallen flowers.One day the flowers did not make their ap-pearance. Two days later, I came to know that he had gone to his village and would return after a week. The new watchman did not show the same kind of perseverance and somehow I missed the flower routine.A week after he returned, he approached me with a hesitant voice, saying “Amma I am back, I will give you flowers tomorrow”. He was perhaps in his late sixties or seventy maybe. I started the flower conversation. “I get up at 4 in the morning”, he said. “I gather the fallen flowers, sweep the portico, wash and make the kolam and I share the flowers with anyone who asks for it,” he said.“I also adorn the flowers on the twin trees of the Neem and the Peepal growing togeth-er.” “Where is it?” I asked. He looked at me with disbelief. “You don’t know? It is just a few yards away”, he pointed across the street. I had never noticed it. “It is so auspi-cious, you haven’t seen it?” he asked again.Why did he do it, I enquired.” The Neem is the

embodiment of Mahamayi, the Goddess. Gane-sha resides in the Peepal tree”, he explained, his faith and belief enmeshed with the local myth, reflecting his reverence for trees and nature.In the years that I had lived in the street, I had not even registered the existence of these trees. I walked to the trees and sure enough the neem and the peepal were intertwined, their separate branches crowned with their respective leaves. A gentle breeze tugged at the leaves. The trees had become a sacred little shrine quite a while ago. The watchman’s consciousness of every-thing that nature offered had made him seek a lasting relationship of altruism with the trees.

Lathalata_ramaseshan@hotmail.com

Altruism with trees

Some Madras matters

I happened to read this edition rather late. As usual, the Edi-

tion carries a lot of insightful references to Madras. I would like to comment/supplement on three subjects dealt in the issue (MM, March 1st).

Adyar CreekIt was very fortunate that

successive Governments DMK and then AIADMK supported the Adyar Creek restoration. As you rightly pointed out, further work beyond the first 35 acres needs to be taken.

There is a lurking danger of encroachment. Recently I observed that the water in the Tolkappiar poonga side was drained out. There was a strong rumour that the local politicians are conspiring with the Park authorities to claim some land on the side lines and sell it. In Foreshore Estate area where I live, there was a talk of bids. Luckily, the Creek got re-filled with water but the rumour was strong. This was one major advantageous environmental development that took place and I pray that the rumour is unfounded.

Chennai MetroThe south western part of

Greater Chennai spanning Van-dalur to Walajabad via Padappai and Oragadam too requires metro rail connection. The

previous government promised Hyundai in the MoU. Rail connection from Ambattur to Walajabad as a grand circular railway is also needed. Perhaps you may do a survey and if it is worthwhile take up in public interest.

George TownThis is a hub of business

retail and wholesale alike. But the stake holders are not par-ticipating in the development of Madras. They continue to operate in filth and squalor. Only organisations like you can whip up the sentiments and try major campaign for the real Great George Town. It requires the participation of the trading community who thrive there.

– A long time subscriber to Madras Musings

Apothecaries Measures

Dr. A. Raman’s account of pharmacy education

(MM , March 16th) opens up, albeit tangentially, the fasci-nating world of terminology and etymology pertaining to weights and measures. For in-stance, both “inch” and “ounce” have the same root (meaning “twelfth”), and there was in-deed a pound of 12 ounces in the Troy and apothecaries sys-tems! Another trip into history may reveal why the “pound” became a measure of quantity/weight and also currency, and

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEBTo reach out to as many readers as possible who share our keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response to requests from many well-wishers – especially from outside Chennai and abroad who receive their postal copies very late – for an online edition. Madras Musings is now on the web at www. madrasmusings.com

– THE EDITOR

Tea, ‘brew-beaten’ by coffeeEver since the Abyssinian goat herd acci-

dentally discovered that the coffee berries were the root cause for the lambs that nibbled them, to frisk, gambol and more importantly look less sheepish, a drink of coffee had been making most of its votaries go after that bever-age like dumb sheep. A gentleman, otherwise jovial and friendly, will be seething with rage, if he has not been served coffee first thing in the morning. He will be game for blue murder.

There was a time when coffee was enjoying unchallenged monopoly among the upper and middle echelons of society. If tea was offered injudiciously, it would be construed a veiled in-sult, abuse, snub, rebuff or affront. The quality of coffee served by a host (read hostess) will determine social status. During the boy-meets-the girl ritual of yore, the matrimonial matter may not be taken forward even if the bride-to-be looked like an amalgam of the celestial Ramba, Urvasi, Menaka and Tilottama, due to the faux pas committed by bride’s family in serving tea, never mind if it was brewed from top drawer Darjeeling leaves that even Queen Elizabeth would have condescended to sip with royal grace.

When I was young, The Tea Board, that had perhaps resolved to propagate tea in Madras, sent a van around the city offering free cups of piping hot tea to wean the coffee drinkers away. In fact, the film Kalyana Parisu by director Sridhar had a song by the trickster Thangavelu, who turns a new leaf (tea leaf?!) marketing the drink, sing-

ing, ‘tea..tea…’. I think it was cut to make the film snappy. Tea was considered by those with stiff upper lip as a lowly beverage, served in glass tumblers, with the moniker ‘single tea’, which the blue collars enjoyed, along with a beedi. Tea was for the brawn. Coffee was for the brain!

Gallons and gallons of coffee and tea might have passed through many throats since then. Tea has now come up big, acquir-ing equal status. Hostesses ask the guests’ preference, ‘Coffee or Tea? without inviting their ire: and also ask a supplementary, ‘with or without sugar ’, as depletion of bodily insulin has become a national shortage.

A ‘double’ strong ‘degree’coffee requires as much skill to prepare as it requires to drink. It should be of darkish brown colour with a surfeit of froth embellishing the top. A liberal ingestion of milk makes it look anemic and ergo fit to be drunk only by the wash basin.

There are a few ground rules in brewing good coffee. My granny had taught me the art of preparing an authentic tumbler of Kum-bakonam coffee in an early morning ritual. I still keep it guarded the way Coke formula is kept. As a tailpiece, the ultimate insult to a waiter can be paraphrased in the outburst of the customer, who barked, ‘Waiter, if this is coffee, bring me tea. If tea, bring me coffee.’

J.S. Raghavanjsraghavan@gmail.com

the origin of the abbreviation “lb”.

Thomas Tharu‘Kasyap’, A-7, Nehrunagar Fourth

Street, AdyarChennai 600 020

The X-ray man at Madras

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI– SRIRAM V

I owe a big thank you to Tripu-rasundari Sevvel for having

led me to locate a lost landmark that I had been searching for, for several years. In terms of heritage it may not be all that old, just about 51 years or so. But to me it brought back precious memories of an outing in childhood.

The Chennai of today goes to attend trade fairs and exhibitions at the Nandambakkam Con-vention Centre. But when such events first made an appearance in the city, they were all held in what was known then as West Madras. This was a vast stretch of land, with the Ambattur In-dustrial Estate and the TVS factories being the only entities of any significance in the near vicinity. The space technically belonged to Naduvakkarai and Mullam villages.

I must have been five, when my parents took me to the Han-dloom Expo held at this place. That was in 1971 or may be 1972. The whole event is of course hazy in the extreme in my memory but what I recall clearly is a longish car journey down an empty stretch of road with bungalows set deep in gardens on either side. In the deepening darkness, I can still recall see-ing a watchman switching on a light in a portico. This I now imagine, was Nungambakkam High Road. I can also recall a statue of a giant Ayyanar playing a drum. And finally, a walk up the tall structure that I know for sure is the one named after Sir M. Visveswarayya and located in the present day Anna Nagar Tower Park.

This was of course not the first event to be held at that place. That honour goes to the India In-ternational Trade and Industries Fair of 1968, sponsored by the All India Manu facturers Associ-ation. It was the culmination of a decade and a half of effort to put what was then Madras State on the industrial map of India. True, the city had historically been the capital of the largest Presidency in the country in colonial times. But its industrial development lagged behind Cal-cutta and Bombay. It was only in 1954, with K. Kamaraj becoming Chief Minister of the State that the situation began to change. A

Chennai’s First Trade Centre

dynamic team, comprising chief-ly C. Subramaniam as Minister for Law, Education and Finance, and R. Venkataraman (from 1957 onwards) as Minister for Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport, Industries and Com-mercial Taxes, worked with the Chief Minister in making Ma-dras an industrial hub. It helped that for much of this period TT Krishnamachari was a Minister at the Centre.

With a slew of power projects being commissioned in the State, the impetus was on manufac-turing. In 1958, the country’s first industrial estate came up

in Guindy. This was followed by the one at Ambattur in 1964. More and more manufacturing establishments set up base in the city and the State and by 1964, when Kamaraj ceased being Chief Minister, the pace had been set. Thus when talks began for an international trade fair to be held in India, Madras was a natural choice, with Bangalore being a close contender. In en-suring that our city was selected an important role was played by KSG Haja Shareef, then Vice Chairman and Executive Direc-tor of the All India Manufactur-ers Association.

held in January, the Trade Fair’s inauguration was postponed to January 21, 1968, the show last-ing till March 11.

The Fair was thrown open by V.V. Giri, then Vice-President of India. Two hundred acres of land had been allotted to the event, which saw international and local participation. The overseas companies were largely from countries then friendly to India – the Eastern Bloc, with agreements for rupee trade. All the States of India put up stalls as well. Even in 1967, with the DMK in power, the area came to be known as Anna Nagar and that is how it would be referred to for all time to come. The Trade Fair saw huge crowds de-scending on it on almost all the days it was held. The event itself was deemed a huge success and held up as an example of what other States ought to be doing.

The venue and its design came in for great praise. Wel-coming visitors were four en-trances, each in one of the car-dinal directions. These had a low concrete arch, done in the

modernist style. Central to the Fair was the International Tower that rose to a height of 135 feet with a ramp going up to the summit. It is interesting that the first ever Industries Exhibition in Madras, held in 1915, had a similar tower, made of wood. For a fee you could climb to the top and get a panoramic view of the exhibition. The tower of 1968, made of RCC served the same purpose.

With exhibition getting over, the area was designated as a per-manent centre for such events, which is how the expo I attended in 1972 also came to be there. But the area was already de-veloping into the vast housing colony of Anna Nagar. Several facilities were coming up. The area around the Tower devel-oped into a park. The structure itself came to be named after Sir M. Visveswarayya and remains so till now. The Thailand Pa-vilion became the Ladies Club and as for the Kerala Pavilion, that became the Malayali Club. By 1979, all ideas of this being a trade fair facility had been given up.

Driving up and down this area, I had all along wondered as to where I had once seen the exhibition. That was until I read a report on Tripurasundari’s work. A phone call to her and I was on my way. I located the eastern entrance to the trade fair, and also the giant Ayyanar. Close by was a bonus find, thanks to Tripurasundari – a giant con-crete wall on which is a striking mural of a powerfully-built man hammering away and forging something on an anvil. Behind him is a toothed wheel and also an industrial shed. A lifting mechanism dangles in front and at the rear is an electrified transmission pole. Also seen are factory chimneys. Such murals were common in the 1960s, very much influenced by Soviet art. This must have been a part of the welcoming arch to the Trade Fair.

The Tower Park is thriving, well patronised by locals. The Tower too is very well kept. I wish the same could be said of the inaugural plaque of the Trade Fair, which, now embedded in a wall of the Tower, is covered with graffiti.

Perhaps Dr. Christian Bar-nard’s blazing trail with his

work on open heart surgery during the late 60s eclipsed the valuable contributions of anoth-er, the Captain Thomas William Barnard (TWB), O.B.E., F.H.A., F.R.P.S., M.S.R. who refined X-Ray techniques some three decades earlier, during his ten-ure at Madras. That he made a world standard institution of it at Madras would not be known to many and so I thought it a good idea to share some of TWB’s experiences and his charming insights with you all.

Prof Arcot Gajaraj wrote – “Captain Barnard belonged to the category of great men who had a modest beginning, but by dint of hard work, perseverance and foresight brought laurels not only on themselves but also made valuable contributions to the welfare of mankind. He was not a product of any medical school and began his life as an ordinary X-ray operator hardly 10 years after the very discovery of X-rays.” What is even more astounding, as our esteemed Madras Chronicler S. Muthiah explained, is the fact that Ra-diology came to Madras in 1900, when the General Hospital got an X-ray unit a mere five years after Wilhelm Roentgen’s dis-covery and before such facilities, it is claimed, were established in much of Europe and the rest of the world. As time went by and the first world war wrought tribulations on much of the western world, this invention was to bring about rapid devel-opments in correct diagnosis of diseases, orthopedic issues and go on to impact medical sciences immensely. Let’s now trace the voyage of both man and equip-ment, their chance meeting at Bombay and see how it impacted the history of Indian medicine.

But before we get to Barnard and his X-ray work, we should hasten to find out how the first X-ray unit reached Madras so early. It appears to have been installed during the days when senior surgeon and Professor Lt Col John Maitland served at the GH. We are given to understand that it was a primitive unit, run from a small set of accumulators. The radiologist who handled the equipment did not quite re-main upto date with technology and was not well regarded, so avenues for private investment were opened and Dr. P. Rama Rao filled the void and set up his own X-ray institute at Kilpauk. One could conclude that Rama Rao and the unit at the GH, managed various patients of the Madras presidency, with Rao sharing a larger percentage of the clientele. As the anxiety of the Asst Surgeon General Dr Gov-

indarajalu Naidu peaked with this deplorable state of affairs, he started a search for a qualified and experienced radiographer.

Captain Barnard’s entry into this dangerous field was de-liberate. Why dangerous, you who have been under an X-ray machine so many times, would ask! In those days, the apparatus to produce these all-seeing rays was quite crude compared with that now used. It consisted of induction coils with various types of interrupters and many gadgets and devices and well, the naked X-ray Tube had to be kept cool by various means. Ear-lier machines were single phase self-rectified x-ray machines with air-cooled rectified valves, cones and cylinders. The tables were mechanically or manually operated with crude spot film devices, etc. There was but little protection against Radiation and Electrical dangers and the risks

use of a length of insulated flex by means of which I switched the Tube mounted on my Ward apparatus "on and of' from a dis-tance of about 10 feet”! Now you should also note that it was not a quick flash like you see today, but the patient was subjected to prolonged exposure for over 15 minutes to get a good image, so it was indeed a lot of radiation!

X ray unit to work with but just a leaky room filled with a num-ber of packing cases. How those cases reached there is another interesting story, which I pieced together from diverse sources. If you recall, one of the fiercest losing conflicts fought by the British was with Mustafa Kemal’s Turkish army at Gallipoli, which left so many Australians, Brits and Indians dead. There had been virtually no x-ray service in the Dardanelles, and its lack was keenly felt. Mudros was the only medical facility on the Is-land of Lemnos which possessed an x-ray machine, and this had to serve one Indian and three British hospitals as well as meet its own needs. When the British retreated finally, this X-ray unit which had provided yeoman service to these soldiers, was packed up (hurriedly) and sent off to Bombay.

A friendly electrician and the ‘mad sahib’ TWB decided to install and commission this con-demned system from Gallipoli, having been served at the war front. As the story goes, when powered on, the top of the gas tube promptly blew up due to moisture ingress. After scouring the Bombay bazaars for repair material, the duo patched it all up and after finding a willing patient, powered the system again only to see sparks flying all around the bewildered and terri-fied patient, who promptly fled.

It was from these humble beginnings in Bombay that TWB learnt so many important les-sons such as cooling the film bed which usually could not withstand the X-ray heat or earthing the system (an inven-tion wholly his, but something he never bothered to patent) to drain leakage currents. After moving to a hospital at Colaba and authoring a few papers, he found himself appointed as ‘Radiologist to the Government

of Madras’. Barnard was en-thusiastic because, as he stat-ed – Madras has always had a good reputation for its Medical facilities and its high standard of Medical Education (I must add, my late father Dr Viswanatha Menon was a Stanley Medical College Alumni from the 50s and would have warmed to this statement!). By then, there was another X-ray unit in Tanjore and a second private clinic in Madras. Would you believe that the prime mover of the generator powering the Tanjore unit was run by a bullock trotting around?

Anyway, Dr TWB quickly got the new department (not the bullock) into a gallop and he was to remain there until 1941 as Chief Officer of Radiology Services with supervision of all X-ray services covering an area three times that of England and a population of 50 million.

When the WWI started in 1914, there was a great demand for X-ray operators and initially TWB was not allowed to go to the war fronts but had to stay on at the ‘London’ hospital. It was in 1916 that he was deputed to the Cumbala hospital in Bom-bay. Reaching there he found no

During that period Captain Barnard opened some twenty new X-ray departments in the state and developed the services in the Madras General Hospital and Medical College as a major teaching centre for South In-dia. T.W.B. then established the Madras Government Institute of Radiology, which to his surprise was named after him on the day of the official opening in March 1934 as the Barnard Institute of Radiology. The centre had a primary GE-supplied Victor XP4 X-ray unit and a secondary screener unit and it became a major centre in South India with the initial cost of this section contributed by Dewan Bahadur M.R. Subbiah Chettiar.

Barnard, who continued as Director of the Institute till 1940, used the 400KV X-ray unit installed in 1934 for the first time in India on his wife’s hand, just as Roentgen had done the first X-ray ever on his wife’s hand!

(To be concluded next fortnight)

General Hospital as seen in early days.

The X-ray procedure during Dr. Barnard’s time.

Tower and Mural, Anna Nagar.

Entrance arch and (opposite) the drumming Ayyanar.

Dr. Christian Barnard.

by Manmadhan Ullathil

– from Maddy’s Ramblings

“X-ray operators” (as the staff were named in those days) were called upon to incur were many. Most of the early operators lost limbs and developed dermatitis and other related injuries.

T. W. Barnard joined the staff of the X-ray department of the London Hospital, Whitechapel in 1908. One aspect he picked up quite early was that even with poor equipment, one could obtain good results by dint of hard work. Quoting TWB from his memoirs “Although I used 'naked' X-ray Tubes with no protective shield, I escaped serious injury apart from damaged finger nails, as I took precautions ignored by my Seniors, the most important being to keep a safe distance from the X-ray Tube when it was in action; I attribute the fact that I am alive today being due to my

4 MADRAS MUSINGS April 16-30, 2019 April 16-30, 2019 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

The Trade Fair was scheduled to be held from January 12 to February 17, 1968. The Congress lost the 1967 elections to the State Assembly and the DMK came to power, with CN An-nadurai as the Chief Minister. It was therefore under his guidance and with the support of V.R. Nedunchezian, then Industries Minister, that the fair was held. Owing to the Second Interna-tional Tamil Conference being

6 MADRAS MUSINGS April 16-30, 2019

Some famous crimes recorded in various Tamil Nadu police

journals.

(Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’s questions are from March 16th to 31st. Questions 11 to 20 relate to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)1. Which Bharat Ratna was re-cently given the Bodley Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the University of Oxford’s world-famous Bodleian Libraries for his contribution in literature, culture, science, and communi-cation?2. Name the two new tools launched by Facebook specifical-ly for Indian users that is aimed at civic engagement on its site during the general elections.3. According to media reports, the Pakistan government recently approved a proposal to establish a corridor to allow pilgrims to visit which ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in PoK?4. Who has become the first Lokpal or anti-corruption om-budsman of India?5. On March 20, the United Nations released an annual re-port where India is ranked 140th out of 156 nations with Finland topping for the second successive year. What report?6. Which Tamil Nadu-based club is the new I-League football champion?7. Google’s recently announced service that allows one to to play high-end games without purchas-ing expensive consoles is called...?8. Which Asian country has re-named its capital as Nursultan in honour of its longstanding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev?9. Which Indian is on top of the Forbes list for “World’s Richest Sports Team Owners 2019”?10. K.T. Irfan has become the first Indian athlete to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In which sport?

* * *11. What now stands on Mount Road where once the Narasu Stu-dios (formerly Vel Studio) stood?12. Which film was Sivaji Gane-san’s first venture as a producer?13. The book ‘Friends of the Earth’ is about which nearly 160-year-old company that is part of the Amalgamations Group?14. What are the names of Lakshmi and Vishnu in the Divya Desam temple in Thiruvallur?15. According to the popular song from ‘Bommalattam’, if Jag-gu was for Jaambajaar, then who was it for Saidapet?16. With which centre of learn-ing in Chennai has Cricinfo part-nered to launch ‘Superstats’, an AI tool that can analyse cricket statistics?17. After which freedom fighter is the Wall Tax Road named?18. The St. Rita’s church in Santhome is dedicated to the memory of which nation?19. Where was the Madras Club located before moving into its present location on the banks of the Adyar?20. How does one know the star of yesteryears Ramnarayan Ven-kataramana Sarma?

(Answers on page 8)

The Subbanna Reddy murder case

In the investigation of cases apparently trifling clues may

lead to detection. It is there-fore necessary to carry out a very careful examination of the scene of offense to discover such clues. The Subbana mur-der case reported below, in the investigation of which I had the good fortune to be associated, will clearly prove what has been said.

Ea r l y in the morn ing of March 25th, 1931, one Neelamegham, a key watchman of the South Indian Railway, while proceeding along the line from Srirangam to Bikshandar Koil Station, saw the dead body of a man lying in the Coleoon river-bed below the railway girder bridge. He proceeded to Bikshandar Koil Station and informed the Station-Master of what he had seen. The latter telegraphed to the Perma-nent-Way Inspector at Lalgudi. The Inspector took the next train to Bikshandar Koil and in-spected the body. The deceased had not met his death as a result of any stab wounds in the neck and chest. Mr. Rangachari, the Permanent-Way Inspector, reported the discovery to the Police Out-post at Coleroon toll-gate and the Head Con-stable-in-charge passed on the information to Sub-Inspector of Police, Manachanellur and also to Srirangam Station, where I was then a probationer.

Sub-Inspector Thyagaraja Pillai, now a retired Circle In-spector of Police, was in charge of Manachanallur Station. He and I reached the place at the same time. A minute examina-tion of the scene showed that blood had oozed to some depth in the sand. It was evident that the deceased must have died in the river-bed. In the surface of one of the wounds, a tell-tale piece of straw was found.

There was no clue to the identity of the deceased. A careful examination of the pocket of the shirt, which was only garment on the corpse re-vealed a blood-stained piece of paper. This, on being unfolded was found to be a ticket for the Srirangam Lottery. The body was photographed and sent for autopsy.

The Sub-Assistant Sur-geon of Srirangam Hospital, who conducted the post-mor-tem, found as many as 5 stab wounds, of which 4 were in the neck and one in the chest, 2 of the wounds in the neck having

penetrated into the trachea and that on the chest into the thoracic cavity. All the wounds appeared to have been caused by a sharp instrument, and one of those in the neck by an instrument with a larger blade than that used to inflict other injuries.

S r i T h y a g a r a j a P i l l a i followed up the only clue in his possession by contacting Sri Jaganatha Iyyengar, the Secre-tary of the Srirangam Lottery. From the counterfoil in his possession, the Secretary was able to furnish the information that the particular ticket, found on the dead body, had been sold by one of their agents, Abdulla Sahib of Thennur, to a man called Subbanna, a goat-herd.

that he had been financing the deceased and produced a letter which he had received from the dead man. This letter, which was post marked at Piler on 21st March, disclosed that the deceased was starting that day with a consignment of sheep and goats for Trichinopoly. Sri V. Gunnaiah, the Acting Sta-tion-master at Piler, proved that a man named Subbanna had booked a waggon on 21st March for the conveyance of 60 goats and sheep to Srirangam Station; that the waggon was attached to mixed train which left Piler Station at 4:15 a.m. on the 22nd. At Pakala, which is the first junction after Piler, one Thulakkanam, a Railway Shunter, stated that he had seen Subbanna arriving at Pakala on the 22nd morning with a waggon load of goats. This witness also stated that one Thimma Reddy had been wait-ing at Pakala from 10th March onwards, messing in the hotel of one Abbai Naidu, that he had been expecting a waggon load of goats and that the deceased and the Thimma Reddy had left by the same train with the goats.

At Katpadi, which is the next junction after Pakala, one Nara-simhalu Naidu, a hotel keeper, identified the photo of Subban-na as the person who had arrived at Katpadi with a consignment of goats on 22nd evening and had eaten in his hotel. He said that on the 23rd morning he had seen the deceased and the other individual putting the goats into the waggon. At Villupuram also, the deceased and another indi-vidual had been seen together. The waggon in question had been attached to a goods train, which left Villupuram at 11:10 a.m. and reached Srirangam 7:50 p.m.

Investigation showed that when the waggon arrived in Srirangam there was none in charge, and hence it was detached from the train and pushed on to a siding. At 11:30 p.m. that night a man, representing himself to be the consignee of the goats, had appeared at the Srirangam Sta-tion and produced the railway receipt for the consignment. When the Station-master asked him why he had come so late to take delivery of the goats, this individual had explained the delay by saying that he had been to Thennur to find coolies to drive the goats. This indi-vidual signed on the reverse of

the railway receipt as Subbanna in Telugu characters, and took delivery of the goats.

On the strength of the evi-dence available, accused Thim-ma Reddy was arrested. At an identification parade held in the court of the Lalgudi Sub-Mag-istrate, the Station-master of Srirangam, the pointsman who had assisted him, and the two coolies who had helped in tak-ing out the consignment of goats from the waggon, all iden-tified the accused as the person who had taken delivery of the consignment. The pointsman at Pakala, the hotel keeper, Abbai Naidu, and others also identified the accused as the person whom they had seen with the deceased bringing the goats to the waggon.

During the investigation, it was disclosed that the deceased Subbanna was an illiterate per-son. In fact, when he booked the consignment at Piler, the Assistant Station-master had taken only his thumb-impres-sion on the consignment risk note. The railway receipt, on which the accused had signed, was seized and sent to the Chemical Examiner who traced a blood mark on it.

The accused was not in af-fulent circumstances and in-vestigation showed he had been trying to raise some money for purchasing goats but had not succeeded. He could not sat-isfactorily explain how he had come by the 60 goats which he had taken to Madurai from Trichy. Nor, could he explain how he came by the railway receipt on the strength of which he took delivery of the goats at Srirangam. The only inference was that Thimma Reddy had murdered Subbanna in the waggon, pushed him off into the river and taken delivery of the goats at the Station, by impersonating Subbanna.

There was no direct evi-dence and the accused was charged for murder on the purely circumstantial evidence appearing against him. He was ably defended. But Mr. Court-ney, I.C.S., the Sessions Judge, found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The sentence was confirmed on appeal by the High Court, which paid a tribute to the painstaking investigation of the officers re-sponsible for bringing the mur-derer to justice. – (Reproduced from The Madras Police Journal, September 1956.)

From this Abdulla and another employee of a local goat dealer, particulars regarding the res-idence and the occupation of the said Subbanna were ascer-tained. Both these witnesses recognised the photograph of the deceased as that of Sub-banna-the person to whom the lottery ticket had been sold. It was also ascertained during investigation that another per-son, one Thimma Reddy from Cuddapah, used to accompany Subbanna and that this person had come recently to Thennur with a number of goats and gone to Madurai from there. A Head Constable was immedi-ately sent to Madurai to trace Thimma Reddy. He traced him in Madurai and brought him to Trichinopoly. When ques-tioned, Thimma Reddy admit-ted that he knew Subbanna, but said that he had met him eight months back. He agreed that the photo shown to him bore some resemblances to Subban-na. Since there was nothing to connect Thimma Reddy with the crime, he was allowed to go back to Madurai, where he disposed of the 50 goats and sheep, he had with him.

An intelligent constable was sent to the native place of the deceased with a copy of the photograph. A number of rel-atives and friends of Subbanna recognised the photograph and some of them came to Trich-inopoly. One Bhookarama Reddy told the Sub-Inspector

by C.K.N. Panicker, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Salem Town.

April 16-30, 2019 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

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Maiden visit to Antarctica

(Continued from last fortnight)

Describing anxious mo- ments of arrival, he says:

“Our ship had reached the island. We made three attempts from different sides to enter it but failed. A lot was at stake. In the fourth try, we were able to land safely with a helicopter guiding the ship”. The first act was an emotional one – hoisting the Indian Tricolour for the first time in Antarctica. The Team leader, Dr. Zahoor Qasim, a leading Indian oceanographer, called Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, reporting arrival and she was elated to hear of the safe and successful landing of the first Indian Expedition at the Antarctic.

The expedition team lived in tents specially designed for the extreme conditions. This contrasted with the much bet-ter equipped facilities in more permanent type of quarters in the subsequent research bases – Gangotri followed by Maitri and Bharti, each a big improvement over the previous.

The three-month stay was socially stressful as the same people met each other every day. The relationship was at times under strain coming close

to blows but not quite. There was no TV, phone or newspaper. In the extreme cold, shaving every day was a meaningless and painful exercise. “I have not given up the beard I started growing then” says Dr. Thomas jocularly – rightfully pleased with its enhancing effect on his personality.

To the question on the nature of his duties as doc-tor-member, he says they were mainly those of a doctor for the mission members. The research

there were no extended quaran-tine and series of examinations and psychiatry tests as might have been the practice today”.

It was two months after return from the historic expe-dition that Dr. Thomas went to see his parents. There was no excitement over what normally would have been cause for much celebration. The expedi-tion was a path-breaking event but strangely, did not receive much prominence in the press at that time, nor the deserved acclamation.

Dr. Thomas’ foray into school management appears to be as much by chance as his expedition to the Antarctic. By 1989 his father, Kit Thomas, was ageing and becoming anx-

ious about the future of Sishya school which he had built from a green field stage to a pre-mier educational institution in Chennai. Kit Thomas needed relief from the strain of running the school and persuaded his son to come in for a couple of days a week. His duty was to go round the school and the class-es and serve as the eyes and ears of his father. Kit Thomas died in 1993, coming to the school till his last day.

In response to how he coped with a responsibility thrust upon him by his father’s de-mise, he says, he was persuaded to take over as Chief Trustee with active support from Mrs. Lily Thomas of A.V. Thomas Group who had been taking keen interest in the school in his father’s time. Kit Thomas, in his life time, with foresight, had asked his daughter-in-law, Omana, to acquire a degree in education. She had become Principal in 1986 and was tak-

ing care of the education side leaving rest of the affairs to Dr. Thomas. In due course, she got a master’s degree in Education to qualify herself fully for her responsibilities.

I could not resist seeking his views on the quality of education in Tamil Nadu. What makes a good school in his experience? In response he says: It is easier to provide buildings and laboratories but more diffi-cult to get teachers with qual-ification and aptitude to teach children of different ages. In his school new teachers are induct-ed into the school’s culture and briefed on the do’s and don’ts.

The most important don’t is not to discourage children from learning by asking questions. The test of a good school is whether children enjoy coming to school. This is what he wants to know from parents of newly admitted children.

Dr. Thomas is convinced that the atmosphere of freedom from daily supervision of chil-dren by parents is an important advantage of a boarding school which even the best-run day schools cannot offer. In such an atmosphere, children have the freedom to run around, explore and learn self-management. Care must be taken to curb frequent parental visits and contacts with their children from eroding this advantage of a boarding school.

Dr. Thomas dwells upon the state of government run schools. The problems, accord-ing to him, are the poor quality of teaching staff and lack of accountability. Poor teacher

material in government-run schools is due to faulty recruit-ment and corrupt practices. When jobs are bought, talent is crowded out.

The golden rules for a well-run school that Dr. Thomas gives are drawn from his rich experience and the advantage he has had of watching a leg-endary educationist, that his father was in his time. Impart-ing of soft skills and teaching children self-confidence, that “they can”, are necessary to turn out employable graduates from schools. The present sys-tem prepares them to answer examinations by rote with poor

understanding of what they are writing.

Learning by questioning and getting clarification of doubts is not encouraged- nay, it is even punished. Large classes weaken quality of pupil-teacher relationship. Lower classes need even smaller number of pupils than the higher classes since the foundation stage calls for closer attention.

As we take leave of him, he finishes the interview with his wholesome humour. He speaks of his problem with immigration authorities in countries, even today, with his passport showing Karachi, Pakistan as his place of birth. He laughs and says he gets away with it explaining that he was conceived in India but merely born in Pakistan! We leave, thinking that there is one more claimant, besides Kerala and Tamil Nadu, wanting to own him – that is, Pakistan.

(Concluded)

by R.V. Rajan

rvrajan42@gmail.com

part of it was minimal as there was hardly any time for it in a three-month stay. The medical duties were light as the Antarc-tic environment was infection free. Medical intervention was needed mostly for injuries from falls on ice and acclimatisa-tion-related health problems.

Looking back on the three months, he says: “On the whole, we could not help looking for-ward to the return and when it was time, it was a great relief. On return we were taken to the Naval Hospital in Bombay but

Dakshin Gangotri – India’s first camp in Antarctica.

The second research base Maitri, in Antarctica.

(Describing the experiences of Dr. Thomas who was with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica.)

8 MADRAS MUSINGS April 16-30, 2019

by our Sports Correspondent

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A walk to remember those who can’t remember ’

screamed a banner carried by a few senior citizens as a part of a campaign by the Dignity Foun-dation to commemorate the World Alzheimer’s Day, recent-ly. Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held over 600 cities in 53 coun-tries exclusively for funding cancer research. Then there are half marathons, full marathons organised by various bodies to create awareness about some issue or the other. There are also ‘Cyclothons’ and ‘Swim-

athons’ besides ‘Alertothon’ conducted by an NGO called ALERT devoted to first aid and emergency care training. I am sure there are many other ‘thons’ about which I am not aware of. However, a few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a small group of tiny tots in their baby tricycles going up and down the Besant Nagar beach holding tiny placards with some slogans. It was appropriately called ‘Kiddathon’ organsied by EuroKids Preschools, a popular play school for kids. It was a cute sight to behold!

As a regular walker at Bessy, as the Elliots beach front in Be-sant Nagar is popularly known, I witness such events almost every other weekend. Bessy is used either as a starting point or finishing point or both.

Chennai. Yes, the number of Walkathons, Marathons and Runs have grown by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years that almost every other weekend, Bessy is crowded with enthusiastic citizens of Chennai from all walks of life, of all age groups and all income levels. Chennai can be truly described as the ‘marathon/walkathon capital’. Many come from dis-tant suburbs to participate in such events. The causes for which such events are held are as varied as the kind of people who participate. For most of them it is an interesting outing on a weekend morning coupled with a service objective. After the event many of them, who come with families also spend some time on the beach and patronize the food stalls nearby.

While the events are for worthy causes, the regular walk-ers who use the Bessy for their morning constitutionals find the events disturbing. Not only the beachfront but also the approach roads leading to the beachfront are blocked by the traffic police for all kinds

of automobiles – both the two-wheeler and four-wheeler varieties. The locals, many of them senior citizens, find the events of great nuisance value. They don’t like the invasion of their privacy by ‘outsiders’. Many activists in the area have started protesting to the police and Corporation against grant-ing permission for such events not only because it upsets their routine but also because the crowd leaves the beach front dirty. Bessy becomes ‘messy’!

As one of them, while I have my sympathies with the locals, I do feel that the ‘locals’ cannot claim exclusive rights for using Bessy. It belongs to all Chennaivasis. If some of them want to use it as a venue for group activities, we should not object. They have a right to do so. After all, these activities happen only for 40 to 50 days in a year- the rest of the days Bessy remains the exclusive privilege of the locals. While there is scope for the traffic police to manage the crowds better, I feel we should not object to such events being held at Bessy.

Till April 30: Chithirai Ther Thi-ruvizha – drawings by K.G. Nar-endra Babu and photo art by Dr. Sushil Pani.

Temple cars are chariots that carry Hindu deities on annual festival days called ‘Ther Thi-ruvizha’. This is celebrated in a grand manner in Temples of Puducherry, Thiruvarur, Chi-dambaram, Mylapore and in many other places in Tamil Nadu during the months of March and April, and lasts more than 25 days,

To highlight the Ther festival, DakshinaChitra is hosting an art exhibition of drawings and installation art by K.G. Narendra Babu. Dr. Sushil Pani, the author of Devaratham – a book on tem-ple cars will be exhibiting large photos of Ther Thiruvizha from

our region – (DakshinaChitra, 10 am to 6 pm)

Forum Summer CampsApril 22-May 20: 4 Week Art

Program for Adults and children above 8 years.

Students will be taught the basics of sketching, shading and perspective, and will progress to a medium of their choice that

includes dry / oil pastel, waterc-olours or acrylics.

April 22-25: Art Appreciation Workshop. Exploring the Mas-ters for children 4-14 years. Call-ing all campers for a uniquely concocted camp to explore art-ists from around the world. Con-nect with renowned artists and art from diverse countries and cultures!

April 27: Cartoon Workshop by Biswajit Balasubramanian for Adults and children above 10 years. In this interactive car-tooning workshop, participants will learn how to draw cartoons in a real fun way (10.30 a.m.-1.30 p.m.)

April 29-May 3 and May 13-16: Art and Craft Workshop for 8 years and above. Create unique pieces of craft using different materials and see them trans-form into a work of art. Explore useful crafts that will kindle the creative mind (11a.m.-1 p.m.)

Chennai – capital of marathons and walkathons

Answers to Quiz1. Amartya Sen, 2. ‘Candidate Connect’ and ‘Share You Voted’, 3.

Sharda Peeth, 4. Pinaki Chandra Ghose, 5. ‘World Happiness Report’, 6. Chennai City FC, 7. Stadia, 8. Kazakhstan, 9. Mukesh Ambani, 10. Race-walking.

* * *11. ITC Grand Chola, 12. Puthiya Paravai, 13. T. Stanes & Co. Ltd., 14.

Kanakavalli and Vaidya Veeraraghava Perumal,15. Sokku, 16. IIT Madras, 17. V.O. Chidambaranar, 18. Armenia, 19. Branson Bagh opposite the Church Park School, 20. Ranjan.

When I was going through a recent issue of a local news-paper, I read about seven such events over one weekend in